Lily hadn’t hesitated to help a stranger, and now she had her first shift at The Den tonight because of it. If she had left me in the street instead of dragging my barely conscious ass upstairs to her apartment. If I hadn’t been a fucking idiot and remembered to grab my phone, she wouldn’t be here.
What was she doing in the basement anyway? Watching an illegal fight didn’t look like something she did. She was dressed that night like she came from lunch in the suburbs or something, wearing a jade green sundress that stood out against the gathering of sweaty, money-hungry men.
A jab to my ribs pulled me from my head before an arm was slung across my shoulders.
“Careful, Dean. Thinking too hard will give you wrinkles. Don’t want to mess with that pretty face of yours,” Seb joked as he poked a finger at my forehead.
“Fuck off,” I half smiled, shoving him off while he laughed.
Sebastian Cook was the better half of our friendship. He always saw the good in every situation and took on every opportunity. He was an act now, ask questions later kind of person, which meant he tended to get into trouble (usually without realizing it) while I got him out of it again.
We met in the basement when we were 18, on our first night fighting for Antonio after being scouted the same day. We were eager and jacked with egos that were very quickly beaten down and reformed by our first opponents and Antonio himself.
We were like brothers, bonded because of our shared experiences in the basement and at home. Where our mothers worked hard to give us the world, and our fathers were rarely there. The only difference was he had a younger sister, while I never met mine.
“Catch up with Roxy again?” Seb asked with a knowing smirk, brushing his hand up the back of his head of tight black curls — the back and sides were shaved into a fade.
I raised an eyebrow. “What gave it away?”
“The broodier than usual expression on your dumb mug,” he said, smiling wider. The stubble above his lip curved up with the movement. “Usually means you’re having conflicts about a woman and that woman is always her.”
“You know me so well,” I said sarcastically as we reached the lounge area.
Several other fighters had already gathered on and around the couches, some of them Antonio’s guys, and others were our opponents. As we walked by on our way to the lockers, I acknowledged one of the newcomers with a nod.
He responded with a wide-eyed stare and quickly looked down at the floor, pulling his hands nervously through his sandy blonde hair. He was skinnier than everyone else, meaning he wasn’t here to fight for Antonio. He wouldn’t let someone that small fight for him.
“God, I remember when we were like that,” Seb said, throwing a sympathetic look at the kid.
“We?” I opened my locker and grabbed a roll of black gauze. “I already had a concussion before my first fight. Didn’t have time to be nervous. I remember you almost crapped yourself when you saw the size of the guy you were versing though.”
Wrapping the gauze firmly around my fists, I chuckled at the offended expression on Seb’s face.
“Okay, Mr. I Feel Nothing. You know that’s because I ate a burrito before my fight,” he grumbled.
I used my teeth to tear the rest of the gauze away. “Whatever you say, bud.”
Seb rolled his eyes and opened his locker. Already wearing his white shorts, bright red sneakers, and lucky gold chain, all he needed was to wrap his fists too. But going off the way he began frantically searching his shelves and pulling items out of his locker, I doubted he had any gauze to use.
“God dammit! Who’s taken my gauze this time?” Seb spun to the rest of the room in frustration and waited for someone to come clean. When no one did, he turned back around, shaking his head in disappointment. “Taking another man’s shit. Disgraceful.”
“Told you, you need a lock,” I said as I tossed him my roll of gauze.
Seb caught it with one hand. Grumbling in annoyance and sending glares at the group of fighters, he began wrapping his fists.
“I’ll know who stole it when I see someone walking around with bright red wraps on,” he said.
I turned away from my locker, scanning the room as I flexed my hands and fingers, paying closer attention to everyone’s fists as I tested the firmness of the wrap around my knuckles.
After a pause, Seb said, “Are you meeting with Roxy later?”
“I don’t plan to.”
He raised his eyebrows in doubt but remained silent, keeping his eyes on wrapping his hands instead. I could almost hear the cogs turning in his head.
I deadpanned at him. “Don’t start.”
He raised his hands defensively. “I wasn’t going to say anything.”
